


Two Out of Three

by tirsynni



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: Someone told him once that she hoped that he died an old man in his bed, his battles won.Two out of three wasn't bad at all.
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 394





	Two Out of Three

In the end, Link didn’t see much. He didn’t see how the Calamity died. Everything came in flashes of light and pain.

Princess Zelda’s bow in his hands. His arrows glowing with brilliant light. Epona strong under him but beginning to pant, sides heaving against his legs.

_ Almost done _ and he called and Revali lifted him into the air one more time. Revali, shining clearly in the green of his Gale, his tone vicious as he whispered to Link but his words lost in the wind.

Then Revali was gone and there was a brilliant light and Link swore he saw her -- Princess Zelda -- but then the field was a blaze of crimson and white -- and they both burned him  _ so much,  _ blood liquid fire in his veins.

When Link blinked, sprawled on the grass, his Champion’s tunic smoking, the acidic burn of smoke filled his nose and the bite of copper filled his mouth and he didn’t see the Calamity or Princess Zelda and it didn’t matter. He recognized the familiar weakness in his bones, the strain in his lungs.

From his back, the Master Sword whispered to him, too, soft and soothing and sorrowful. She knew, too. His battle was done.

For an indulgent moment, Link rested in the burnt grass and breathed. His chest and stomach ached with every inhale and exhale, his bones throbbing in time with his heartbeat, and as he looked at the torched field, he thought deliriously that at last he felt every one of his hundred plus years. Someone told him once -- Zelda, maybe? He thought so, thought he heard the words in her voice -- that she hoped that he died an old man in his bed, his battles won.

Hyrule Field was burned clean. Link’s vision blurred and darkened at the edges, but sight didn’t matter so much: he couldn’t  _ feel _ the heat of the Calamity’s Malice anymore. After a century, Link’s battle was done. He was going to die an old man.

Two out of three, and he had a good compromise for the third.

Link’s fingers fumbled pulling out the Sheikah Slate, the tips numb, but the same strength of will which carried him through a thousand battles allowed him to drag out the Slate and clumsily paw at familiar keys.

The lights on the Sheikah Slate were dying. The shine of the Shrines on the map were flickering and fading. It was okay. They were both almost done. Soon, they could all rest.

Link sighed and tasted/smelled iron, and then the Sheikah Slate lit up one last time and the world around him shimmered and twisted and faded.

Cold rock replaced crispy grass. Link smiled, feeling something wet dribble down his lips and cheek, and waited.

“ _ Link! _ What are you --- You’re not supposed to --  _ Idiot! _ What are you  _ doing _ here?”

Revali landed in a flare of green beside him, but the light shone softer than before. Revali was fading. His time in Hyrule was done, too. Link smiled sleepily. Good. They could go home together then.

“The Calamity is dead,” Link said, and his words slurred. He barely recognized his voice.

Revali hissed and his green glow surrounded Link, somehow as warm as sunshine. Revali hovered over him, wings around him, beak close to Link’s face, and Link realized he had one regret. He wanted to kiss that beak. He never had the chance to Before.

Revali’s wings flapped and Link swore he felt the breeze, felt Revali’s feathers skim over him. “You idiot! What did you… Look, get your Sheikah Slate again. Teleport to the village. I know your friend Teba has been keeping an eye out for you. Just --”

Revali’s feathers… Link remembered. He remembered now. Revali’s feathers soft against his skin as Revali scolded him and told him where to put his fingers on his bow and on his arrow and hadn’t anyone taught him how to shoot? His technique… When he fired in midair and time itself seemed to slow around him so he could perfect his shot… Revali taught him that. Pressed against his back, so warm in the Hebra cold, and…

Link smiled sweetly at Revali. More blood dribbled on his lips. This. Transporting himself here. This had been the perfect choice.

“Stop smiling at me, you plucking --” Revali choked and impossibly, his eyes seemed wet. “You’re running out of time. You need to go!”

No. Link was out of time. There was no Shrine of Resurrection this time, and he didn’t want there to be.

In almost every memory Link had, he acted without choice. His role as Princess Zelda’s Champion, wielding the Sword which Seals the Darkness, being a Knight… Since awakening, he had more choices, but his final quest allowed no freedom of choice: the Calamity needed to be destroyed.

Here, now… This moment with Revali… This was Link’s choice. His last choice and his most important choice, and looking at Revali’s wide eyes, Link couldn’t regret it.

Link licked his lips, felt wet heat, and grinned at Revali. “I was just…” Something clogged in his throat, and he coughed. More wet heat splattered on the stone. “ _ Dying _ to see you.”

Revali startled. Despite the feel of blood covering his chin and cheek, Link couldn’t stop grinning. He wished Revali could have met Riju. He thought they might have had fun together. Or hated each other. It still would have been fun for Link.

Revali closed his eyes. Unfamiliar grief twisted his face.  _ It’s okay, _ Link wanted to tell him.  _ It’ll be over soon. _

_ I’ve done this before, remember? _

“Of course you would like puns,” Revali grumbled. His eyes still gleaming wetly, Revali reached out and brushed his wing against Link’s face, as if to clean it.

His feathers, still impossibly soft, brushed against Link’s cold cheek. Link’s faltering breath caught in his throat.

Revali’s wing froze against his face. Then it shifted, cupping Link’s cheek. “Oh, Link. You idiot.”

_ You’ve already said that _ .

Revali leaned down and rubbed his beak against Link’s nose. Feeling daring and giddy and dizzy, Link shifted his heavy head and kissed the side of Revali’s beak. Revali laughed softly and brushed his beak against Link’s nose again.

“We should all be grateful you lasted this long before getting your fool self killed. I suppose it is for the best that you chose to come to me. The Princess can take care of herself now, and it will no doubt take an eternity to deal with your awful aim. To think, the final battle relied on  _ your _ archery! What were the Goddesses thinking!”

Revali stroked Link’s hair as he ranted. Link let Revali’s familiar voice wash over him and relaxed into Revali’s touch.

The ground didn’t feel so hard anymore.

“Our names will go down in history. And now… Heh. I can finally teach you how to really fly. You were always more meant for the sky than the water, anyway.”

Revali’s beak touched his nose again. Link tried to look at Revali but couldn’t open his eyes. When had they fallen shut?

“Just go to sleep, Link. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Link sighed. Revali’s beak pressed against his mouth. Sleepily, Link kissed it again.

When Link opened his eyes, Revali sat in front of him, legs crossed, one wing extended toward Link. The green glow was gone. Revali smiled wryly at him. “There are less dramatic ways to tell someone you love them, you id--”

Link threw himself at Revali and cut him off, slamming them both downward.

That didn’t hurt, either. Nothing hurt anymore.

Revali’s wings wrapped around him. “The others are waiting for us, but. Well. We have all the time in the world now.”

Feeling light enough to fly even without wings, Link wrapped his arms around Revali and held on tight.

This was his choice, and it was far better than dying alone in a soft bed.

Refusing to let go even when Revali began to squawk and laugh and yell, Link decided two out of three wasn’t bad at all.

xoxoxox

Teba and Harth found his body later, curled up by Vah Medoh’s feet, pale face peaceful. A blue feather was twined in his hair.

“Please, keep an eye on him, Master Revali,” Teba murmured. 

Link was a Hylian, but he was an honorary Rito and he chose to die here. Teba didn’t think anyone would argue about Link receiving Rito rites.

When Teba knelt down to better braid the feather in Link’s hair, making sure it wasn’t dislodged during the flight downward, he swore he heard a male voice whisper in his ear, a hint of laughter in the wind.

He never told anyone else about the whisper. It was too intimate a moment. It was also too bizarre. He acknowledged the title of Rito Champion when a grieving Queen Zelda visited his village but nothing else.

Not even Saki would believe him if he told her that a dead Rito had scolded him that  _ of course _ he would watch over Link and Teba had better not shoot at his plucking Divine Beast again. Even if it was tempting to tell Queen Zelda that he heard Link laugh and was confident he was happy now, the context was too much.

Master Revali and Link were happy. That was all anyone needed to know.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Zelda, Revalink, and general fandom, check out my [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)! :D


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